Johann John "Johnny the Giant" Aasen Passes Away

Today in Masonic History Johann John "Johnny the Giant" Aasen passes away in 1938.

Johann John "Johnny the Giant" Aasen was an American film actor, and one of the tallest actors of all time.

Aasen was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota on March 5th, 1890. Aasen's mother was alleged to be over 7 feet tall, although later documents have her at just over 6 feet. It is unclear who Aasen's father is, although a sibling of Aasen claimed his father was Alfred Aasen.

In 1900, Aasen's mother moved the family to North Dakota, by way of Iowa where Aasen's mother had a sibling. Once in Sheyenne North Dakota, Aasen's mother opened a restaurant. Aasen attended school, helped in the family business and was confirmed in the Lutheran Church. In the church he was the smallest kid in his class.

In 1902, Aasen's mother passed away and Aasen ended up living with different families. One of the families he lived with moved to Leeds, North Dakota to start operating a hotel and Aasen went with them.

In 1922, Aasen was offered an acting job in the movie Why Worry? He went on to appear in several other films.

Aasen's height was legendary and possibly at time exaggerated. One report had Aasen as tall as 8ft, 11 1/2 inches tall. In the 2010 edition of the Top 10 of Everything Aasen's height is listed as 8ft, 9.7 inches. In 1978, the Guiness Book of World Records has Aasen's height as 7ft at the time of his death. Although at this time, Aasen had lost some height due to age and no longer stood fully upright.

Aasen passed away on August 1st, 1938.

Aasen was raised in Highland Park Lodge No. 382, Los Angeles, California on July 14th, 1924.

This article provided by Brother Eric C. Steele.